To be fair, I don't think that is the same point - TDI Advanced Wreck is wreck penetration training - you don't get that on AOW, or any any course outside of the Tec sphere.
But I do agree card mania has taken over. Everyone should be free to choose their own road to hell, I say.
As an instructor and dive guide in a very popular wreck location, I have a clear idea of MY policy regarding wreck diving.
Experience counts for a lot - but it is relative. I care more about 'good judgement'. With 14 great wrecks on my doorstep, I have to acknowledge that each one has its own character, highights and dangers.
To say that some can or cannot penetrate (regardless of qualification) is too generalistic. What matters is
where and
how they penetrate. If a diver doesn't know that, then they have no business diving wrecks.
Some wrecks can be 'penetrated' (i.e. entering an overhead environment) by novice divers under the careful supervision. Some wrecks can be safely penetrated by divers with only a basic wreck diving qualification (ability to follow a line that is laid for them and not kick up silt). Some of the wrecks require proper technical procedures, planning and team training.
Entering a wide cargo hold on a freighter in shallow water, with no entanglement hazards, little silt and good viz is a very different experience to creeping through a maze of silt-clogged passageways, at 35m, in search of the boiler-room in an upturned cruiser.
When I teach PADI wreck speciality, I focus on developing good judgement and risk assessment. Understanding the dangers, evaluation and being erring on the side of caution in the unknown. This equips divers to make sensible choices in the future about where NOT to go. When I have new customers with me for diving - then this is how I also evaluate them before making a decision on whether to penetrate or not.
Penetration on the PADI Wreck course is an optional requirement...and even if penetration is conducted, the difficulty of the penetration, hazards encountered etc are unlikely to be the same - so simply having that certification is never going to be a 'license' to penetrate. If a diver freaks out inside a wreck, then they can easily kill themselves and me. I don't chances with my, or others, lives.
Regardless of qualification, penetrating wrecks (with me as a buddy) is a privilege that has to be earned....through demonstration of good diving skills, common sense and focus.
IMHO, the only course that equips a diver to penetrate safely is a Technical/Advanced Wreck course. Divers should have adequate redundancy, ability to properly plan, work as a team, follow effective procedures, deal with zero viz, know how to
use a line and decompress if necessary.
